RAJA SEAT: This
is a beautiful garden of seasonal flowers and a fountain, overlooking a
deep valley and meandering roads. In the yester years,
the Rajas of Kodagu spent their evening at their evenings at this vintage
point watching spectacular sunsets beyond the western ghats. That is how
the place came to be known as Raja's Seat.
Abbey Falls: A thrilling
8 kilometre drive amid forests and coffee plantations takes
one to the most popular picnic spot the Abbey falls. The gush
and the grandeur of the waters
splashing down from 70 ft, can be witnessed from hanging
bridge. Although the crystal clear
waters are inviting, bathing and swimming in the deep waters
is unsafe. Heavy vehicles cannot ply the narrow road leading
to the therefore jeeps and autorickshaws come in very handy.
Omkareshwara Temple: During his reign, the Haleri
King Lingaraja II beheaded a Brahmin who a minister in his
court. After his death, the Brahmin is said to have
haunted the king as 'Brahmaraakshas'. As a remedial measure
the king was advised to bring a Shivalinga from Kashi and
install it in Madikeri. The King arranged for it and thus
came up the Omkareshwara Temple in 1820. The temple is a
quaint mix of Islamic and Gothic styles of architecture. The
gold leaf inscription atop is accessed through a narrow
flight of interesting steps used by the that king to survey
his kingdom. In front of the temple is the holy pond with
fishes that leap in symphony to gobble food offered o them.
The annual 'teppotsava' or 'boat festival' is a memorable
event.
Gadduge:
Touching
the skyline stand the Gadduge or three tombs with domes in
Islamic style and minarets with gold coating built in Indo
Sarsenic style. The central tomb, larger and more ornate
that the other two on its either sides is a memorial on the
graves of Virarajendra and his wife Mahadevi Amma. The other
two are the graves of Lingarajendra and of Rudrappa, Guru to
Virarajendra. Situated on an elevated plane, the place
offers a bird's eye-view of Madikeri.
Talacauvery:
The worshipping deity of Kodagu, and the lifeline of
peninsular India, River Cauvery takes her origin as a spring
in Talacauvery, one of the most prominent pilgrim centres of
Karnataka. About 48kms from Madikeri at the foot of 'Brahmagiri
Hills' in Talacauvery is the holy pond where on the
auspicious day of 'Tula Sankramana' that generally falls in
October every year, goddess Cauvery appears in the form of a
river. Thus bubbling up from Talacauvery she reaches ground
level at Bhagamandala, 39 kms to the West of Madikeri. One
of the seven major rivers of India, Cauvery is the 'Dakshina
Ganga' or 'Ganga of the South'.
It is here that Cauvery merges in joyous and divine form with the rivers 'Kannike' and 'Sujyothi' to form a 'Triveni Sangam'. It is customany for all the pilgrims to first take a holy dip in the 'Triveni Sangam' and then ascend the hills for one more at Talacauvery.
From here, Cauvery gushes her way through Karnataka and Tamilnadu, sanctifying lakhs of hectares of land enroute. She ends her 760 km journey at Poompuhar in Tamilnadu to join the Bay of Bengal.
During Tula Sankramana, Mother Goddess Cauvery is offered a special worship, with a month long festival fair, attended by thousands from all over. On regular days, visitors are not allowed after 6 pm. Night stayover is prohibited in the area. Umpteen number of buses ply from Madikeri. The entire stretch is a nature lover's dream come true.
How to Reach Madikeri:
Bus: 260 km from Bangalore.
123 km from Mysore.
